The 2026 NFL Draft is officially one week away, and the Tennessee Titans are ready to roll.
GM Mike Borgonzi told us during his pre-draft press conference Thursday morning that the team is in a place where they could comfortably draft today if they wanted to. Their first big decision comes early on night 1, where they have the 4th overall pick and an interesting decision to make. Borgonzi commented on each of his perceived options at this presser, and gave some interesting answers that can easily be read-into if you’re so inclined. It’s tea leaf reading season, friends! Let’s dive in.
The first question asked of Borgonzi was about Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love. The Titans GM lumped him in with the other options in that range, but didn’t shy away from calling him a unique talent:
“I certainly think there’s a cluster of players up there that we really like, but in particular Jeremiyah, you know, I think he’s a special player. I’ve talked about this at the Combine before, you know, with his speed, he can do things out of the backfield as a receiver. There’s also a group of EDGE guys up there that are really good too, so I think we’ll have some really good options here at four.”
this is our first opportunity to read between the lines: Borgonzi’s qualifier when discussing Love, who many think will be the eventual pick at 4, was to bring up the EDGE players in particular. He did not say linebacker or wide receiver. He alluded to, presumably, Texas Tech’s David Bailey and Ohio State’s Arvell Reese. If this is the tier the Titans are truly considering at 4, that would align with the odds I have been placing on their pick since the Owners Meetings. You can read my full updated notebook on that topic right here . I believe that if both edge rushers are gone, Love is the likeliest choice.
Since Borgonzi brought up the EDGE guys, let’s next go to his comments on Ohio St. hybrid LB/EDGE Arvell Reese. I’ve lumped Reese in with Bailey as the pair of guys they’re praying fall to four. I’m all-but certain they would take Bailey at 4 if he falls there. I’m admittedly less certain of Reese, just because of his high ceiling/uncertain floor reputation in the draft community. I personally disagree with this idea that he has an uncertain floor, because I think worst-case he’s a fantastic off-ball LB prospect. And Borgonzi’s comments about his upside as well as how early in his career he can be an impact player embolden me in that opinion:
“Look at the physical tools for Arvell. He’s one of the more explosive players that I’ve ever seen. You know, in terms of his burst, his ability to close, his explosion on contact. So he has all the tools to do it. They were using him so much off the ball, on the line of scrimmage. And with a player like that, you can do a lot with early. You can use him in that spinner position, joker, however you want to call it. But you certainly see the flashes there of him being dominant pass rusher. So I think you’re looking at the tools and the upside there.”
If the Titans were to take Reese, I feel comfortable saying he will be a pass rusher. Borgonzi essentially told me as much all the way back at the Combine when I asked him plainly: will Reese be a pass rusher in the NFL? He said he thinks so, yes.
Next is LB Sonny Styles , who got some interesting notes from Borgonzi. This is where I am probably reading into the individual word choices a bit too much. his first comments on Styles as a player were glowing, saying that it’s hard to comp him to anybody because his measurables are legitimately off the charts. But then he said this about Robert Saleh’s success with star linebackers in the past:
“Well he’s certainly had a lot of success with a lot of the linebackers he’s had in San Francisco , the Jets, even his time back in Seattle with those guys. And like I said, I think there’s going to be a cluster of players up there. You’re looking for impact players when you get up there, when you’re taking (someone) that high in the draft. And who’s going to have the most impact, who’s the best player available? But you know, certainly there’s a linebacker there that’s pretty good as well.”
Again, I may be reading too much into this. But to me, this can be easily read as a slight downgrade of Styles. I do think Styles is at the very least a comfortable 4th place in the odds for this pick, behind Bailey/Reese/Love. And I’d argue he’s the last guy with plausible odds to be the choice. I’m sure Robert Saleh wants the guy on his team, he’s a super attractive prospect.
But for Borgonzi to bring up how you’re looking for the most impactful player at that position in addition to the best player available, and then say but there’s certainly a linebacker that’s pretty good at that pick too… I’m not so sure he isn’t separating Reese off from the most impactful players a little bit here.
This aligns with my personal opinion that Love would be a definitively more impactful player than Styles on average. He has game-breaking home run ability in that role as a ball carrier that Styles, as incredible as his ceiling is, just does not. It’s as much a difference in positional roles as it is anything else. And another thing that stood out to me in this presser is that when Borgonzi was asked about how this draft has an unusual amount of non-premium blue chip talent, he mentioned linebacker and safety (Sonny Styles and Caleb Downs ). He did not mention the running back. Perhaps just a simple omission in the moment… or perhaps it’s laying the groundwork for justifying a Love pick as premium (oh yea, we’ve really got the tinfoil hats on now baby).
All of that being said, I’m still not downgrading Styles’ chances of being the pick. I find the comments interesting, and we’ll look back on them in hindsight either way. I still believe if both Reese and Bailey are gone, it will be a pick between Styles and Love. But I think Love is the favorite.
The last player worth mentioning is Miami ’s Rueben Bain, who has been in the news this week after the report of his fatal car accident in 2024 finally surfaced last weekend.
“Yeah, I mean, we’ve known about the information for a while.” Borgonzi explained. “We’ve researched it, discussed it, talked to Rueben multiple times. We’ve had multiple touch points with Rueben. And we really enjoyed having him here and discussing a lot of stuff that had happened before… You know, I think you have a series of questions when you first meet with somebody at a touch point. I think we might have asked a question first. But we certainly knew about it. A lot of teams did.”
I would be floored if Bain is the pick at 4. But I do think the Titans are very intentionally leaving the door open on him in the case that they manage to find a trade-down.
